Opinions on MFW 1850 to Modern........

[Chloe]

This would be for a 7th, 6th and tag-a-long 2nd grader. We've never used MFW before. I've been considering it for several years, as I love the Biblical and missions focus, and the fact that it is completely planned out (I love to plan but end up spending more time planning than teaching), except for readers so I can use what I want. I love older books and have collected a lot from used book stores and Amazon Marketplace. I'd hate to have to buy specific books and not be able to use what we have. I suppose the biggest thing that holds me back (besides the cost) is that I hate jumping around in books, which I hear MFW does a lot of. Also, I've heard 1850 to Modern doesn't flow as well as the other MFW years.

 

What is The Last 500 Years book like? Is it absolutely necessary? How much direct teacher time will this MFW year take from me daily? I am not a crafty mom but my dc love them. Could they do the activities independently? What is the music, art and science like in this year? I'm mostly interested in the Bible and history, however, I worry about the memory verses. My dc already memorize Bible verses for AWANA. Will this be too much for them? I, personally, am terrible at memorizing!

 

It would be wonderful if this works out for us. Then we could do ECC the following year when my oldest is in 8th grade, before she starts the MFW high school levels. My now 1st grader would be in 3rd when doing ECC and right on track to do the four history years, then repeat ECC before high school. My second child would have a bit of a "gap" year, but I'm not too concerned about that. He could even do a science-focused year before high school, as he LOVES science.

 

Now, another little road-block is that dh isn't really impressed by MFW, at least not what he's seen from the website. He's a Christian, but seems to focus more on academics when it comes to homeschooling. He thinks MFW looks too "fluffy". He thinks projects and activities should be initiated by the dc and done mostly independently. Though he lets me make the curriculum decisions, when asked for an opinion he's big on the independent learning thing a la Robinson Curriculum. I would feel the same way if I were mainly concerned about academics, but my dc's spiritual growth and building loving family relationships is more important to me. Fortunately, dh is going to the homeschool convention with me in May and MFW will be there. I'm hoping a better look at it will convince him it's worth trying. As I said, he pretty much lets me make curriculum decisions, but I've never spent that much money on a curriculum before. I just wish David Hazell was going to be there and speaking at the convention.

Edited April 21, 2010 by Chloe

[Chloe]

Anyone?

[momof3treasures]

I am not that far in the cycle yet. But we have used K, Adv, ECC, and CTG. I already have RTR for next year. We LOVE it! The IG is great, keeps me on track. I love all the bible we are reading and memorizing. If there is too much memorization for you, you could just read the verses every day. That's how my dc memorize it. There are a lot of books to skip around in, but I'm used to that now. Each one adds so much and I love that they are all scheduled out for me and we actually read ALL those books:0) It is very easy to tweak. We don't do all the music. Sometimes we do music and art at different times than what it says in the IG. Another reason I stick with MFW is that we are all learning together. That is very important to our family. I think the academics are solid in MFW. I am learning a TON of things that I never learned in ps! Just pray and see where the Lord leads you:0)

[dhudson]

We are within three weeks of finishing 1850-MOD and it has been very heavy academically. We are a family that is concerned over both our childrens relationship with God and academic fitness. There hasn't been as many hands-on projects that we do together although they have initiated doing several of the SOTW activities. I think that MFW has dealt with many of the hard topics this year carefully but also covering them effectively.

 

I think this last year has been the most full with history and Bible. The family learning aspect is one we completely enjoy and has enabled us to watch movies about the timeframe we've been learning about and discuss them as family as well as go on field trips and all be able to be on the same page. I also love the music and art studies that follow along with the historical timeframe.

 

I have heard the criticism several times that MFW jumps around too much but I appreciate the different viewpoints that each book presents. It gives us a more complete picture and allows us to talk about how different people may see the same thing but have a completely different take on it.

 

It takes me about 60 - 90 min of teacher intensive time ( I have a 7th grader and twin 4th graders).

 

Hope that helps.

[Lori in MS]

1850 to MT is my favorite year. (I've done every program except high school.)

 

I don't think the history skipped around that much. I thought it flowed well. The only things we did all together was the Bible lessons and SOTW readings, outlines, etc. I had my dc read Last 500 years and Children's Encyclopedia of American History on their own. These books are 2-3 page overviews of a time period with illustrations and captions. My dc often read ahead in these as they enjoy that style of book. The book basket list was great. We did several extra read alouds. We also watched several movies related to the history including Ken Burns PBS Civil War Series, Sergeant York, The Hiding Place, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Life is Beautiful, The Devil's Arithmetic, and The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. We have a Clearplay filter so some of these dvds were the edited version.

 

The memory verses were not time consuming. Most of the time it is only 1 verse per week. There are 6 weeks of the year that there are no new verses assigned so it is just review.

Edited April 21, 2010 by Lori in MS

[Chloe]

Thank you! This sounds like it could work. I'm tempted to buy a copy of the TG before the convention so I have more time to look it over. Hmmm......